BONN — A West German prosecutor announced Monday that Chancellor Helmut Kohl is under investigation in a political corruption case.

The prosecutor said an inquiry will determine whether Kohl lied to a legislative committee looking into the laundering of political donations.

The investigation is based on charges brought by Otto Schily, a Green Party legislator and member of a Bonn parliamentary group that investigated the Flick affair.

The probe involves Kohl's testimony in connection with alleged payments to politicians by Flick, an industrial group. The chancellor's office said onday that it was unable to find a previous instance of such proceedings against a chancellor.

The allegations concerning Flick have led to a trial in Bonn of two former economics ministers and a former general manager of the Flick group.

Supporters of Kohl have accused the Green Party of pressing the accusations to gain politically at the chancellor's expense.

The prosecutor's office said its inquiry would determine if criminal charges would be brought.

The charge of giving false testimony while not under oath is punishable by three months to five years in prison.

Schily claims the chancellor knowingly misled a nine-member panel in his home state of Rhineland-Palatinate that is looking into $80 million in corporate donations said to have been funneled to the local Christian Democrats and Free Democrats through tax-exempt foundations.